The Chartered Institute of Local Governance and Development is committed to making its website, member portal, training systems, and institutional publications usable by everyone, regardless of ability or assistive technology. Inclusion is one of our core institutional values, and that commitment extends to the digital services through which the public, members, and partners interact with the Institute.

We aim to meet the W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.2, Level AA. Where a service goes beyond AA to achieve AAA conformance, that is by design. Where any part of the site falls short of AA, we work to remediate it under our accessibility roadmap.

• Designed pages with sufficient colour contrast between text and background, even on rich photographic backgrounds.
• Used semantic HTML headings, landmarks, and form labels so screen-reader users can navigate efficiently.
• Ensured the keyboard is a first-class input: every interactive element can be reached, operated, and exited without a pointing device.
• Implemented “Skip to main content” behaviour so users do not have to traverse the navigation on every page.
• Used scalable typography so users can increase text size in their browser without losing content or functionality.
• Provided meaningful descriptions for icons, decorative images, and institutional photography that conveys meaning.
• Designed forms so that errors are surfaced in plain language and associated with the field they describe.
• Tested across modern browsers and reduced-motion preferences, honouring requests for reduced animation.

We are honest about where the site still falls short. As of the last review date, the following areas are on our remediation roadmap:

• Some long-form policy documents are not yet provided in alternative accessible formats. Members may request an accessible version by email and we will provide one.
• Older institutional photography may not yet include detailed alt text. New imagery is reviewed against our content style guide before publication.
• A small number of legacy uploads (such as historical reports) may not be fully tagged for screen readers. We re-tag these as we publish updated editions.

If any page, document, or feature on this site is not accessible to you, please write to us at info@cilgd.com. Tell us what you were trying to do, the page you were on, and the assistive technology you use. We aim to respond within five working days and to provide an accessible alternative wherever practicable.

Accessibility feedback is welcome and treated as institutional improvement information, not as complaint volume. Where you believe we have not adequately addressed an accessibility issue, you may escalate the matter through the official complaints process or through the data-protection or equality regulator in your jurisdiction.

Accessibility is not a one-time achievement. We test new pages before they go live, monitor incoming feedback, and update this statement as remediation progresses. The Institute reviews accessibility metrics at least once a year as part of the Institute’s digital governance reporting.